This invention relates to FDDI networks, and more particularly to a low cost, fault tolerant FDDI wiring Hub.
FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface) is a high speed data interface designed with Fiber optics in mind, although of course the interface can be used with other transmission media, such as shielded twisted pair lines.
Traditional FDDI networks use two methods to interconnect stations: point to point connection of dual-attached stations in a ring topology; or connection of single-attached stations to an FDDI concentrator in a star topology.
Point to point connection retains the fault tolerance of FDDI but is difficult to maintain. The ring topology is essential in the networks ability to recover from a fault. Removal or addition of a station involves re-wiring a portion of the network to maintain the proper topology. During this time, the network is unable to recover from a fault.
Intelligent FDDI concentrators connect single-attached stations in a star configuration. They are relatively expensive and can be a single point of failure in an FDDI network since each station only has one connection to the ring rather than two. Replacement of a faulty concentrator results in a disruption of service for all stations connected to that concentrator.
Neither of these interconnect methods are adequate for backplane applications where reliability and ease of reconfiguration are important.